2001: Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey

Film data

Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

Produced by: Stanley Kubrick

Screenplay by: Stanley Kubrick & Arthur C. Clarke

Based on (Partially): Arthur C. Clarke’s short story “The Sentinel”

Release Dates: April 2, 1968 (Uptown Theater), April 2, 1968 (US), May 15, 1968 (UK)

Running Time: 161 minutes (Premiere) 142 minutes (Theatrical)

Budget: $10.5 Million

Box Office: $138 – 190 million

Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Cinematography: Geoffrey Unsworth

Edited by: Ray Lovejoy

Genre: Science Fiction

Starring: Keir Dullea as Dr. David Bowman

            Gary Lockwood as Dr. Frank Poole

Cast: William Sylvester as Dr. Heywood R. Floyd

            Douglas Rain as the voice of the HAL 9000

            Daniel Richter as the chief man-ape

            Leonard Rossiter as Dr. Andrei Smyslov

            Margaret Tyzack as Elena

            Robert Beatty as Dr. Ralph Halvorsen

            Sean Sullivan as Dr. Roy Michaels

            Frank Miller as mission controller

            Edward Bishop as Lunar shuttle captain

            Edwina Carrol as Aries stewardess

            Penny Brahms as stewardess

            Heather Downham as stewardess

            Maggie d’Abo as stewardess of Space station elevator (uncredited)

            Chela Mathison as stewardess (uncredited)

            Judy Keirn as Voiceprint identification girl at Space Station (uncredited)

            Alan Gifford as Poole’s father

            Ann Gillis as Poole’s mother

            Vivian Kubrick as Floyd’s daughter (uncredited)

            Kenneth Kendall as BBC announcer (uncredited)

Synopsis

The movie opens in an African desert millions of years ago where two tribes of apes of fighting and one retreats from their water hole. Upon awakening, they find a plain black structure, known to be a monolith. In what seems like an epiphany, one man-ape realized how to use a bone as a tool and weapon and uses this new knowledge to kill the leader of the rival group and reclaims the water hole.

           The movie then jumps chronologically millions of years in later by use of an ellipsis, where a Pan Am space craft carrying Dr. Heywood R. Floyd, travels to a space station that resembles and acts as an airport. He waits for the next flight to his trip to Clavius Base on the moon. He is greeted by an attendant who invites him to breakfast which Floyd accepts but momentary puts off so that he can make a videophone call to his daughter for her birthday. After the phone call, he is stopped by a group of scientists from around Earth and questioned about his mission. They want to know more information about Clavius and the moon as they had heard rumors about an epidemic there. Floyd explains that he is not at the liberty to give any information and he leaves the conversation.

            At Clavius, Floyd presents about the matter to a group of men, seemingly of

distinguished importance. He apologizes for the rumors and media stories as there are conflicting views on what the group is telling the world. He stresses the importance of secrecy on this mission and explains that he is there to compile more information on the new found artifact and prepare a report on how to break the news. Floyd and others ride in a Moonbus to the artifact, eating pre-

made sandwiches on the way. Upon arrival, it is explained that the artifact has signs that it was intentionally buried rather than naturally being covered up. They all walk down to the artifact, which the audience recognizes as the same black monolith as seen in the beginning of the movie with the apes. One group member takes pictures and when he tried to take a picture of the group, a loud, gearing, high-pitched radio signal disperses the group. They notice that the sound began once the sun hit the monument.

            The movie then jumps again with an ellipsis and informs the audience that the next shot is eighteen months after the monolith incident on the moon. Dr. David Bowman, Dr. Frank Poole, and three other scientists in cryogenic hibernation are on the U.S. spacecraft Discovery One and are in route to Jupiter. The group is seen walking smoothly in all directions, watching television, and preparing meals in the spacecraft. Bowman and Poole sit down together with their meals to watch an interview of them and their ship’s all-controlling computer, HAL 900, on BBC One. Hal, as the crew calls him, explains that he is foolproof and incapable of error. The host then questions Bowman about Hal and Bowman explains that they see him as a friend but are unsure if he has genuine emotions.

           After the two disperse and Poole goes to bed, Hal stops Bowman to ask about his drawings. Recognizing all of the scientists in hibernation, he asks Bowman about the ambiguity of the mission. Pondering why they were going to Jupiter and why those three scientists were trained separately and then put into hibernation even before they boarded the ship. Bowman avoids the questions by assuming they are testing his psychological state. The conversation is interrupted by Hal reporting that the antenna control device will fail in 72 hours. Bowman confirms that he will talk with Poole and then make a decision. Bowman is then seen in exiting the craft in a spherical pod and travels to replace the failing component. Although heavily

breathing throughout, he completes the mission but while back in the craft, him and Poole find nothing wrong with the component. Hal suggests that they reinstall the component and wait for it to fail to see what the error is. The human duo check with Mission Control who informs them that their twin HAL 9000 backups indicate that Hal is in error but that they agree with Hal’s idea to put the component back to see what is wrong.

Bowman and Poole question Hal on the integrity of his diagnosis to which Hal responds that like other issues ascribed to HAL series units, it was due to human error. Bowman asks Poole to check out a problem with his EVA pod but really just wants to talk to him without Hal’s knowledge. They both enter the pod and turn off Hal’s controls to discuss Hal’s error and decide that if the component works and Hal is proven to be wrong, that they will disconnect his higher intellectual functions. The scene closes showing Hal lip reading the whole conversation.

INTERMISSION

          Loud music and a black, empty screen set the tone for the second half of the movie. Poole in his EVA pod leaves the spacecraft to reinstall the original component, Bowman watches from the inside. The EVA pod, controlled by Hal, hits Poole, breaking his oxygen hose and bumping him into space. Bowman does not see the hit, only Poole drifting away. Poole immediately asks Hal what happened and he replies that he does not have enough

information to know. Bowman goes into his own pod to retrieve Poole. Back at the craft, Hal turns off the life support for the three scientists in hibernation, killing all of them. The computer then refuses to left Bowman in when he returns with Poole, claiming that their plan to deactivate him jeopardizes the mission. Bowman lets go of Poole, needing the pods arms, opens the ship’s airlock door manually, even though he has no helmet, and immediately proceeds to Hal’s

processor core. Hal becomes nervous, tries to plead with Bowman, and even becomes afraid but Bowman continues to deactivate the circuits controls Hal’s higher intellectual functions. Hal sounds as he is dying, speaking slower, and explaining that he can feel “his mind going.” He reverts back to his earliest programming and introduces himself and sings “Daisy” until he is fully disconnected.

            Immediately after disconnecting Hal, a prerecorded video message from Floyd comes on, supposed to be played once they get to Jupiter, and reveals the existence of the black monolith on the moon that has been inert except for one short and extremely powerful radio emission aimed at Jupiter.

Bowman arrives at Jupiter and leaves Discovery One in an EVA pod to investigate another monolith in Jupiter’s orbit. Bowman and his pod are pulled into a vortex of very colorful light and speeds through space viewing cosmological phenomena and strange landscapes in different neon colors. Surprised himself, he finally stops in a neoclassical room of

white and green, and sees older versions of himself in different settings and outfits. First middle aged, in his space suit, and in a bedroom then older, dressed in a suit eating dinner, and finally very old and lying in a bed. Another black monolith appears in the center of the room facing the bed and as he reaches for it, he is transformed into a fetus enclosed in an orb of light. The film ends with the fetus floating in space looking at Earth, seemingly in amazement.

Commentary: Reflection

            2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film that deals with the themes

of existentialism, human evolution, technology, artificial intelligence, and extraterrestrial life. Stanley Kubrick became fascinated by the possibility of extraterrestrial life after completing Dr. Strangelove and searched for a collaborator in the science fiction community to make “the proverbial good science-fiction movie.” Kubrick was introduced to Arthur C. Clarke through a mutual acquaintance and finally met on New York on April 22, 1964. They spent the next four years discussing the project. Clarke offered Kubrick six of his short stories and Kubrick chose “The Sentinel” as the source material for the film along with “Encounter in the Dawn” which inspired the film’s first sequence.

            The pair planned to write the novel first and then write the screenplay but ended writing them both simultaneously where Kubrick took the lead on the screenplay and Clarke on the novel. Therefore, there are subtle differences between them, mostly in the depth of their explanations and the changes made to the screenplay in production.

            The script went through many stages and many ideas were discarded completely, at least a couple remnants of previous plot ideas remained. One being HAL’s breakdown and how it is implied that it is triggered by authorities on Earth who order the computer to withhold information from the astronauts about the mission. This is hinted at when Hal asks Bowman if he is bothered by the “oddities” of the mission and then the conversation is interrupted by a false prediction, that Hal claims to be of human error. Another one being the

military nature of orbiting satellites. Originally the satellites shown in the beginning of the

movie where supposed to be nuclear weapons and detonated by the Star Child at the end of the film. However, Kubrick did not want it to relate too much to Dr. Strangelove and it has no place in the film’s thematic development as the US and Soviet governments had agreed not to put any nuclear weapons into outer space.

            Dialogue and sound is very important in this film as well. To start, the first and last 20 minutes contain no dialogue and instead just sounds of action from the characters occupying the space in time. In the entirety of the film, dialogue is limited on purpose to make it seem as if Hal has more emotions than the humans. Moreover, much of the dialogue of the humans is monotone and not filled with any emotion, whereas Hal has pride as shown in the BBC interview, holds grudges, as seen when not opening the door for Bowman, and fear when he is about to be disconnected. Overall, critics and audiences felt that the ambiguity, created by the lack of dialogue or voice over, made them interpret the film’s scenes in a different way. Stanley Kubrick did this intentionally to encourage his audience to explore their own interpretations of the film and in an interview with Playboy magazine, he refused to offer an explanation of what really happened in the film.

           But the lack of direction did not inhibit the movie’s influence on media, technology, and film. Robert Jacobs of The Asia Pacific Journal claims that Kubrick’s use of the Star Child and the whole Earth icon was the most dramatic at the end of this film as they both appear newborn versions of themselves, “ready to be born into a future of unthinkable possibilities.” Apple was also clearly influenced by the film with their iPad resembling the tablets used to watch the BBC interview while on the space craft. Apple’s Siri also features a reference to the film as it says, “’I’m sorry I can’t do that.”

            Film is the clearest form of influence as shown in Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001. In this Steven Spielberg says that the film was his film generation’s “big bang” and George Lucas labels Kubrick as “the filmmaker’s filmmaker.” Science magazine Discover also discussing the significant impact of the film on subsequent science-fiction coining 2001 as the archetype and standard for science fiction.

The film is noted for its scientifically accurate depiction of space flight, pioneering special effects, ambiguous but beautiful imagery, and the use of sound both from space and the characters. It received both positive and negative critical opinions where some praised it and others despised it. Science fiction writers also reacted to the film where Ray Bradbury praised the film’s photography but disliked the banality of most of the dialogue. Whereas Samual R. Delany see the banality of the dialogue as a strength and a prelude to the rebirth at the end of the film.

            Ultimately 2001 earned itself, Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and their team many award nominations including Academy Awardbas for Best Director, Original Screenplay, Best Art Direction, and Baftas Best Film. Whereas it won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, four Baftas for Art Direction, Cinematography, Sound Track, and Best Road Show, and best foreign production at Cinema Writers Circle and David di Donatello Awards, along with others. It is now regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made and in 1991, it was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Commentary: Response

            This film was incredibly groundbreaking for me. Although originally watched in 3 sittings and then watched again once the whole way through, I did not have much trouble understanding it. I feel that out of all the Kubrick films I have watched this semester, this one was surprisingly the easiest to follow. I think that this is because of the lack of dialogue and the preciseness of the shots. Many of the shots were elongated for effect with added music to build up or bring down the emotions of the audience. These allowed me to better follow the plot points but also analyze the symbolic meaning of the scene.

            I found that the most amazing thing was the advancement of the technology and

how truthful it was to what we know of space now, even though we didn’t land on the moon until 1969. I found myself constantly turning to my boyfriend and saying “Eh! Did you see that, it looks like…” the sentence was followed by different household and tech items like the iPad, Siri, FaceTime, the movie Gravity, and A Clockwork Orange (the last scene kind of looks like the cat lady’s house).

            I definitely understand why this movie is referenced in so many modern day creations and why the Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry. This is probably my favorite Kubrick film by far followed by A Clockwork Orange.

The Shining

THE SHiNiNG

Film Data

Based on: The Shining by Stephen King

Release Dates: May 23, 1980 (US) November 7, 1980 (UK)

Running Time: 144 minutes (US) 119 minutes (EU)

Budget: $19 Million

Box Office: $44.4 million

Distributed by: Warner Bros.

Music by: Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind

Cinematography: John Alcott

Edited by: Ray Lovejoy

Starring: Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance

            Shelley Duvall as Wendy Torrance

            Scatman Crothers as Dick Hallorann

            Danny Lloyd as Danny Torrance

Cast: Barry Nelson at Stuart Ullman

            Philip Stone as Delbert Grady

            Joe Turkel as Lloyd

            Tony Burton as Larry Durkin

            Lia Beldam as Young Woman in Bath

            Billie Gibson as Old Woman in Bath       

Barry Dennen as Bill Watson

Lisa Burns as Grady Daughter #1

            Louise Burns as Grady Daughter #2

            Anne Jackson as Doctor

Synopsis

The movie opens with Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson, interviewing for the position of winter caretaker at the isolated Overlook Hotel. He plans to use the seclusion and quiet atmosphere for writing. Manager Stuart Ullman tells Jack the history of the hotel including that it was built on a Native American burial ground and that the previous caretaker developed cabin fever and killed his entire family and himself. 

At that same moment, Jack’s son, Danny, has a premonition about the hotel and sees blood emerging from the elevator door. Wendy, Danny’s mom and Jack’s wife, tells a doctor that Danny has an imaginary friend named Tony and that Jack previously had a drinking problem that he gave up because he dislocated Danny’s should while drunk.

            Jack takes the job and the whole family shows up to the hotel. While on a tour of the premises, the chef, Dick Hallorann, telepathically offers Danny ice cream and explains that his grandmother was also telepathic and he calls the ability “shining.” Danny nervously asks about the state of the hotel and if there was anything to fear to which Hallorann explains that the hotel shines too and to stay out of room 237.

            Time passes and things are getting stranger. Danny is having more visions, Wendy is concerned about the phone lines being out, and Jack becomes frustrated about not being able to write and begins acting strange. Danny’s curiosity about room 237 grows when the door opens and returns with a bruise on his neck and is utterly freaked out. Wendy accuses Jack of abuse based on a dream of his that he killed both her and Danny. Jack, in frustration, wanders to the hotel’s Gold Room and speaks to a ghostly bartender named Lloyd who serves him bourbon.

  

          Later, Wendy explains that Danny was supposedly strangled by a crazy woman in one of the rooms and Jack then goes to investigate room 237 which he ends up seeing the woman but pretends that he didn’t. Wendy and Jack fight about what to do with Danny and Jack wanders again to the Gold Room which is now filled with ghosts attending a party. In the bathroom, he speaks with Grady, a ghost, who tells him that he needs to “correct” his wife and child and that Danny has used his talent to reach out

for help from Dick Hallorann in Florida. This information proves to be true as it cuts to Hallorann having a premonition and booking a flight back to Colorado. At the same time, Danny starts calling out “redrum” and goes into a trance, calling himself Tony.

            When searching for Jack, Wendy stumbles across his papers and realizes that he has been repeatedly typing “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” Nervous for her husband, she begs Jack to leave with Danny but he refuses, making her even more scared and worried. She knocks him out and locks him in the kitchen pantry but she quickly realizes that she is trapped at the hotel as the radios and snow car have been tampered with. Later, Grady unlocks the door and let Jack go to which he goes after Wendy.

            Locked in their quarters, Jack starts hacking at the main door with a firefighter’s axe and Wendy sends Danny through the bathroom window but she can’t fit herself. Jack breaks through and says the famous line, “Here’s Johnny!” but Wendy slices his hand with a butcher’s knife and he retreats at a sound.

            Jack hears the engine of a snow car and kills Hollarann on site with the axe and goes after Danny in the hedge maze. Danny is quick to make a false trail to trick his father. Wendy looks for Danny and while running through the hotel, sees ghosts, blood, and

Hollarann’s body. Wendy and Danny escape with Hollarann’s snow car and Jack is left to freeze to death in the maze.

            The movie ends with a photograph in the hotel hallway dated July 4, 1921, with Jack smiling with other party goers.

Commentary

            The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film based on Stephen King’s 1977 novel The Shining.  For a Stanley Kubrick film, it had a slow start at the box office but eventually gained momentum grossing $44.4 million in North America. At first, it had mixed reviews with some critics saying that it wasn’t scary and didn’t live up to the terror in King’s novel. It was the only one of Kubrick’s last nine films to receive no nominations at all from either the Oscars or Golden Globes.

            Later analysis, critics and audiences enjoy it much more as Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 91%. In 2006, Roger Ebert, a famous American film critic and television host, put The Shining into his series of “Great Movie” reviews. Stephen King also had mixed reviews of the film saying on one hand that it had memorable imagery but poor adaption of his novel, and on the other hand later mentioned that the film contributed something of value to the horror genre.

            Among audiences and critics, the film was widely interpreted, with many differentpeople picking out different things. Some, especially ABC reporter Bill Blakemore, saw that the film reflected the American killings of Native Americans. They argued that the film had Indian logos on products and artwork throughout the house, but no sign of Native Americans. Stuart Ullman also tells Wendy that the hotel was constructed on an Indian Burial ground and that Indians wanted to stop the building. The imagery juxtaposed by Jack’s insanity symbolizes that evil forces get weak men to do their bidding.

            Today, the film is widely acclaimed by critics and audiences. Quotes such as “Here’s Johnny” are well known and ranked high on AFI’s 100 Movie Quotes list. Jack Torrence is also listed on its 100 Heroes and Villians List and the movie itself is ranked 29^th on its 100 Thrills list. The movie is also well known because of its parodies and homages in many films, TV shows, video games, and music. The Simpsons, Gilmore Girls, Remington Steele, and Director Tim Burton are known for their references of some of the film’s themes, settings, and characters.